Connecticut
The state of Connecticut covers 5543 square miles, including some 250 miles of coastline along Long Island Sound and extending north to the Berkshire Mountains. Most of the southern part of the state is relatively flat, punctuated by sandy beaches, coastal saltmarshes, hardwood forest, and old farms. The northern part of the state is hillier, with highlands in the Northeast and Northwest portions of the state bisected by the Connecticut River Valley, which follows the river as is flows south through Hartford and Middletown. The northwestern highlands are more dramatic than those in the northeast, and it is in the state's extreme northwest corner that the state's high point, Mount Frissell, tops out at 2380 feet. The southern and western portions are more heavily settled than the northern and eastern areas; the 2005 population of 3.5 million people (averaging 703 people/square mile) is centered south and west of its three largest cities: Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford.
A total of 420 bird species have been recorded in Connecticut (Connecticut Bird Records Committee 2008), of which about 196 are known to breed regularly or occasionally. Click here to download an excel spreadsheet showing the bird species of Connecticut and their conservation status based on various criteria. This file also has population estimates for Connecticut of key landbirds, based on the Partners in Flight Landbird Population Estimates database housed at Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory.
AKN RESOURCES
Six AKN datasets have data from Connecticut, totaling 842,789
observations!
| # Obs |
# Loc | # Taxa |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding Bird Survey | 37,284 | 16 | 135 |
| eBird | 221,442 | 1977 | 387 |
| Great Backyard Bird Count | 63,039 | 369 | 154 |
| Hawk Count | 105,255 | 20 | 21 |
| Project Feederwatch | 411,620 | 616 | 208 |
| International Shorebird Survey | 4149 |
14 |
30 |
| TOTAL | 842,789 | 2913 | 615 |
**A file of the complete AKN dataset for Connecticut can be downloaded here.**
The AKN Bar Charts provide an easy way to view AKN data from Connecticut, showing a summary of all species reported for the state and their temporal frequency throughout the year. Click here or on the image below to view a bar chart summarizing all AKN data from Connecticut or click here to generate your own bar chart.
Additional bar charts using just eBird data allow one to generate bar charts for specific refuges, parks, and other "hot" birding locations (hotspots). You can customize a bar chart for any state, county, BCR, or hotspot. A customized bar chart can be generated for one or multiple Connecticut locations, and please note that you can select as many locations as you wish. It is also possible to explore frequency maps
for a species, and within eBird those maps can be refined to view point maps just data for Connecticut.
The AKN Google Earth files provide a way to explore AKN data for Connecticut geographically. Click here or on the image below to download a Google Earth file showing all datapoints for the state of Connecticut. Using Google Earth, a free application, you can then explore the spatial distribution of the various datasets and also see summaries of the data by clicking on the points. For more on how to use these files, click here.
A number of additional projects have data from Connecticut not yet represented in the AKN. The Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Network has compiled a Register of Northeast Bird Monitoring Programs; to get a similar file with only the Connecticut projects, click here.
BIRD HABITATS AND CONSERVATION IN CONNECTICUT
Need content!
Connecticut IBAs
The Connecticut Important Bird Area (IBA) program has identified 26 IBAs across the state; Connecticut 's IBAs are listed below. For more information on the Connecticut IBA program, click here or contact the state IBA director:
Chris Field
Connecticut Important Bird Areas Coordinator
Audubon Connecticut
Southbury, Connecticut
(203) 264-5098 ext.309
cfield@audubon.org
| IBA Name |
Counties | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Audubon Center in Greenwich | Fairfield | Recognized |
| 2 | Bafflin Sanctuary Complex | Windham | Recognized |
| 3 | Barn Island Wildlife Management Area | New London | Recognized |
| 4 | Bent of the River Sanctuary | New Haven | Recognized |
| 5 | Charles Island and Silver Sands State Park | New Haven | Recognized |
| 6 | Connecticut College Arboretum | New London | Recognized |
| 7 | Cove Island Park | Fairfield | Recognized |
| 8 | East Rock Park | New Haven | Recognized |
| 9 | Falkner Island Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR | New Haven | Recognized |
| 10 | Good Hill Farm Preserve | Litchfield | Recognized |
| 11 | Great Captains Island | Fairfield | Recognized |
| 12 | Greenwich Point Park and Nearby Islands | Fairfield | Recognized |
| 13 | Hammonasset Beach State Park | New Haven | Recognized |
| 14 | Lighthouse Point Park | New Haven | Recognized |
| 15 | Mamacoke Island and Adjacent Coves | New London | Recognized |
| 16 | Menunketesuck and Duck Islands and surrounding tidal flats | Middlesex | Recognized |
| 17 | Milford Point/Wheeler Marsh/Mouth of the Housatonic River | New Haven | Recognized |
| 18 | Naugatuck State Forest | New Haven | Recognized |
| 19 | Northwest Park | Hartford | Recognized |
| 20 | Quinnipiac River Tidal Marsh | New Haven | Recognized |
| 21 | Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR | Middlesex | Recognized |
| 22 | Sandy Point | New Haven | Recognized |
| 23 | Station 43 Marsh/Sanctuary | Hartford | Recognized |
| 24 | The Nature Conservancy, Devil's Den | Fairfield | Recognized |
| 25 | Topsmead State Forest | Litchfield | Recognized |
| 26 | White Memorial Foundation | Litchfield | Recognized |
ORNITHOLOGICAL RESOURCES
State agency:
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106-5127
Phone:(860) 424-3000
http://www.ct.gov/dep/site/default.asp
State Ornithological Society:
Connecticut Ornithological Association
314 Unquowa Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
http://www.ctbirding.org/index.htm
State Records Committee:
Connecticut Bird Records Committee
Greg Hanisek, Secretary
175 Circuit Avenue
Waterbury, CT 06708
ghanisek@rep-am.com
http://www.ctbirding.org/about_arcc.htm
Other links:
eBird: Report your birding observations, whether from a week long trip throughout the state or backyard sightings while gardening. All sightings are valuable and will be automatically integrated with the Avian Knowledge Network and Northeast Avian Data Center. Read more about eBird or submit observations now!
